Friday, November 20, 2015

Wailing and Lamentation From the Vatican

The Vatican in View
Guest Post by Manfred Ferrari *
In these days a time bomb has exploded in the Vatican, whose existence was long known to insiders. The Pope from Argentina had tried to transform the existing framework into a "church of the poor". He did so with good intentions.  He ignores the fact that the Vatican is a construct that has been shaped over the centuries. Francis could not or would not see that the Curia is a powerful apparatus whose middle management is more important than the honorable leadership of cardinals and bishops. The Pope from distant Argentina, whose authoritarian management style is well attested, veiled by a populist posturing, is  able to enforce his new thinking against the wishes of the powers of the Vatican.
Now a "palace revolution" has been inflamed. The anonymous prelates of the second rank have made themselves known to journalists. For many connoisseurs, the outbreak of this situation had  long expected. The more his acceptance by the Catholic foot soldiers increased, the more the internal anger at the unconventional style of leadership became known. Dozens of wrong decisions were never made public because they were hardly interesting for the media. They concerned marginal theological questions but   fell well within the competence of middle management.  Curial archbishops and Cardinals are easily interchangeable. The "Middle Management" of the Vatican rarely changes rapidly. Yet many of the papal decisions were and are marked by a shocking naivety. It was quickly  becoming known that Francis was planning changes that would change the very structure of the Church to its foundations.
A small example. For decades it was customary that the diocese of large dioceses were occupied by bishops from smaller diocesan sees. So the experience of aspirants could be tested and a pool career could be created. Francis  took over it filled the major archdioceses of Bologna and Palermo with simple priests. Imagine how dismayed the passed over episcopal candidates were, and the pontiff grumbled.
At the beginning of his pontificate, the Pope spontaneously made the managing director of his priests  retirement fund,  chief director of the IOR, an important post in the Vatican.  It soon became apparent that Mons. Ricci was dismissed from the diplomatic service years ago, because of his aberrosexual affairs.  Ricci's personnel dossier simply  lacked these distressing pages.  Francis refused to reverse the decision. How should the Curia take such Pontifex seriously? Almost everyone at the Vatican knew of the misconduct of the priest.
And the waste in the Vatican under Pope Francis has increased rather than decreased. While the Pontiff symbolically pulls up in the small car in front of the White House, he flies his Cardinals in private Swiss MAX AIR to Astana in Kazakhstan to attend the inauguration of the new Greek Catholic Church, a convenience that should have cost around 20,000 Swiss francs.
For many members of the curia this Pope is simply no longer acceptable, because no one really knows where he stands morally. Francis has become famous for his contradictory statements. Was it  not  he himself who said on the flight from Manila to Rome: "Who am I to judge?" And then many more prelates ask, who else may judge, if not the Pope?
The Pope  continues to "wallow"  in the enthusiasm of the masses. The trouble is that departures from the Catholic Church in Germany have risen sharply.  Where is the eagerly anticipated "Francis effect"? Italy's (left)  media cheers him, and the atheistic Scalfari, editor of La Repubblica, boasts to be a friend of Francis. But there remain a few hundred hypocrites in the Vatican who perform for kippers before the pope and give him the illusion of a "pope
 for all".  But the pope from Argentina is in danger, even before his death, to find a new place to live. In the Vatican itself there will be little room for a second Pope pensioner.
* Manfred Ferrari, Vatican expert, kathmedia.org, fotoferrari.com
Picture: fotoferrari.com
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

14 comments:

  1. http://www.thejournal.ie/pope-francis-neurotic-priests-unstable-doctor-2458376-Nov2015/

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  2. First, I have a question for Tancred. In the last paragraph, Ferrari writes, " the pope from Argentina is in danger to find a new place to live". Sometimes things can get lost in the translation from one language to another, but is Ferrari suggesting Francis may be soon forced out of the Vatican? I think that is the implication based on the first sentence of the second to last paragraph which says the pope is no longer acceptable to many in the Curia.

    If Ferrari is suggesting Francis may not be long for the Vatican, then I think his piece fits well with a trend we're seeing from several others lately. Just two weeks ago, Antonio Socci wrote that Bergoglio's papacy was in collapse. That happens be the very same thing Rorate's Don Pio Pace wrote just days before. On top of that, Damian Thompson wrote that Francis seems to have broken the papacy. And lest we forget, Nardi has hinted of declining health and resignation on more than one occasion.

    Maybe I'm reading too much into these recent stories, but I'm starting to get the sense Bergoglio's adversaries have decided to let it be known they want him gone and are using friendly media sources to distribute that information. I think the recent Synod proved to be a breaking point for many. To see several stories like this in just a few week's time seems like more than coincidence to me.

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    1. That is correct. That's Ferrari's impression as I read the article. Probably could have been better translated that "Francis may have to soon find new lodgings..."

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    2. Thanks for clarifying. Based on that, what's Ferrari's track record? Is he known for having good sources within the Vatican? Often, Vatican writers are conduits for certain Cardinals and Bishops so do we know who some of them may be?

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    3. G Nardi likes him. I've translated one other thing by him and he's a regular contributor to Katholisches. His take here rings true as well. I'll try to find more.

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  3. You refer twice to "Mons. Ricci". Never heard of him, but I HAVE heard of Mons. Ricca ?

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    1. Maybe it's an intentional typo by Ferrari. That's the way he spelled it and I didn't notice.

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    2. Ricci was the name of the Superior General of the Jesuits at the time of their suppression.

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  4. Thank you, I agree.

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  5. Not a very clean translation but I understand and agree with the substance.

    I'm so worn out, sick and tired of the Bergoglio show. The man is liberal (putting it gently), the humility is false, the reality of his style is authoritarian and damaging to the Church. He was elected because he was perceived to be the complete opposite of traditional Ratzinger.

    The Church will not be able to recover from this in our lifetimes. If he were to die tonight, he would have to be hailed as a "humble" "pope of the people" and the next pope will be scrutinized and compared to him in every shallow which way.

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    1. The whole thing wears me down as well. Sometimes I can barely see the page, but I believe the work of Giuseppi Nardi is very important, but also that of many other great figures in Europe who are humbly labor one for the sanctification of their souls and the love of neighbor. Perhaps more "serious" journalists will benefit from these kinds of revelations and observations.

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  6. I am very happy to read these comments from everyone here, because I have had the feeling all day, after reading some more of the garbage Francis spouts (this time his snide, sarcastic remarks directed towards pious priests and seminarians), that there is extreme discontent/disenchantment in the Vatican with Francis and his associates, and even in many bishops conferences around the world and that he will soon be gently (or maybe no so gently), forced to resign....whereupon a very much more traditional and orthodox Pope will be elected. The problem is, what to do with another pope Emeritus? The article I read states that dislike for Francis is so high in the Vatican that he could never stay there....or even Italy. That;s how unpopular he is.
    The rumor is it would be back to Argentina with Francis. And his associates would make an equally quick exit.
    Damian Malliapalli

    I don't know why, but I have been getting this feeling that Francis is either going to be dead, or forced out of office very soon (by that I don't mean in afew weeks, but before 2017 comes around.)

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  7. The monsignor who works in the bank has been very quiet for the past few years. Is he still there?

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    1. Yes Franny lives under the same roof with him. He recently visited Ricca the sodomite and usurer at the Vatican bank. It was supposedly the first time Franny has visited the bank.

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